JORIS TEEPE
For Adults Only
Postcards
77 1021 2

For the record, I think it is great that Arkadia Jazz has reactivated Sybil Golden’s Postcards label. Pretty much all of the recordings on Postcards combined state-of-the-art high fidelity reproduction with genre-busting, state-of-the-art musical expressions by major artists such as Sam Rivers, Reggie Workman, Gary Peacock, Paul Bley, Steve Kuhn, Julian Priester, Harold Land and Bob Stewart. The label also provided less-reknowned, but deserving artists such as Bruce Ditmas, Alan Pasqua, Chip White, John Clark, Ralph Simon and Jorge Sylvester an opportunity to record original compositions with first rate accompaniment. For Adults Only is the first new release on Postcards since its acquisition, and while it certainly is a fine recording of modern mainstream acoustic jazz, it does not have the visionary / exploratory musical edge of the label’s past catalogue.

Teepe, a young Dutch bassist, has gathered quite an impressive band for this live recording. In fact, the dual reed front line features two of the most encyclopedic young saxmen, Don Braden and Chris Potter, to come along in the last decade or so. Both Braden and Potter are in great form throughout For Adults Only, and they really get it going on the out-chorus of the title track. Teepe, himself, is a pretty amazing bassist, as the two saxes-plus-bass trio outing, "Blues for Claudia," amply demonstrates. Teepe goes at it, toe-to-toe, with Potter (on soprano) and Braden (on tenor) in succession to create some of the most exciting music on For Adults Only. Pianist David Hazeltine and drummer Bruce Cox complement the efforts of Teepe, Potter and Braden with consummate skill and professionalism. This is first rate acoustic mainstream jazz. The playing is dynamic and sensitive. Though the compositions are pretty basic head-solos-head post-boppy sorts of things, they have anough going on in them to keep my interest. The three standards have some nice moments (especially the breezy rendition of "Up Jumped Spring"), though I am really tired of hearing standards. For fans of mainstream jazz, For Adults Only definitely contains some enjoyable stuff. So, while I have no problems whatever with the content of this disc, I personally was hoping to hear music with the same cutting-edge sensibility and experimental spirit exemplified by previous Postcards releases such as Reggie Workman’s Summit Conference. If that’s what you are looking for, For Adults Only may well prove to be a disappointment.

Dave Wayne

Tracks: 1. Chelsea Bridge; 2. Five Bears; 3. Second Avenue Story; 4. I Do It For Your Love; 5. Blues For Claudia; 6. Brother Braden; 7. For Adults Only; 8. You Don’t Know What Love Is; 9. Up Jumped Spring

Personnel: Joris Teepe, bass; Chris Potter, soprano, tenor and also sax; Don Braden, soprano and tenor sax; David Hazeltine, piano; Bruce Cox, drums